E Cigs in the Press

According to a charity Action on Smoking and Health survey, the number of people vaping e-cigs will cross a million this year. This figure says it all about the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes, which are seen as an innovation in the field of smoking. E cigs are widely being seen as harmless compared to traditional tobacco cigarettes, which are linked to many diseases. In a news story featured on the BBC on the e cigarette industry, electronic cigarettes only got further credibility as the widely popular form of smoking these days. In fact, the e-cig industry is one of the fastest growing in Britain.

The number of people using e-cigarettes in the UK is expected to reach a million this year. The charity Action on Smoking and Health statistics reveal that about 700,000 Britons were using e-cigarettes in 2012 and the number is fast rising and expected to cross one million in 2013.

In an interview conducted by BBC with Professor John Britton, the professor disclosed that nicotine isn't a particularly hazardous drug. Britton, who heads the tobacco advisory group for the Royal College of Physicians, explains that since e cigs use nicotine as the main ingredient, electronic cigarettes are a safer alternative to tobacco. Professor Britton further adds that if Britons stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes and rather switched to e-cigs, this will help save hundreds of thousands of lives in the country, which will be a "massive potential public health prize."

An increasing numbers of smokers have switched to electronic cigarettes following the first ban on tobacco smoking in enclosed public places, which was imposed seven years ago. E cigs seem to be a healthier alternative to smoking, since these don't cause any pollution or leave any irritants in the air, which means you can smoke them in public places, without fearing about bothering others around you. There isn't anything like passive vaping, unlike passive smoking!
If you are worried about health concerns of tobacco smoking but find it extremely difficult to shun your smoking habit, you can start using e-cigarettes as a stepping stone to quit nicotine addiction. With nicotine being the addictive ingredient in cigarettes, experts believe it isn't much harmful, unlike tar and other harmful chemicals used in tobacco. E cigs only use nicotine, which makes them safer than tobacco.

MHRA, the UK drug regulatory body, believes e-cigs could save approximately 57,000 lives in the United Kingdom in the next 10 years.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Catania states that 9% of 300 smokers quit smoking after a period of one year after switching to e-cigarettes.

Statistics reveal that e-cigs have become a popular quitting aid in the UK, with one-fourth of all quit attempts being made using electronic cigarettes.

Electronic Cigarettes – Loved by Celebrities

At the start of 2013, it was estimated that there were 600,000 regular users. By the end of the year that number is expected to be more than a million. Often designed to look like conventional cigarettes, these gadgets are now available in supermarkets, newsagents and garages across the country.

They consist of a cartridge containing liquid nicotine and a heating element. By dragging on one end of the e-cigarette, the nicotine-laced liquid is drawn over the element, turning it into a visible vapour mist that is inhaled and then exhaled.

This produces a relaxing sensation, similar to smoking the real thing but (say manufacturers) without the carcinogenic chemicals created by burning tobacco.

Those, the marketing spiel says, who switch from smoking to 'vaping' — as the habit is known — are able to get their nicotine hit in a healthier way.

E-cigarettes are also not taxed like tobacco, so vaping is much cheaper than smoking. It is claimed that someone with a 20-a-day habit spending roughly £7.50 for a pack could save themselves more than £2,000 a year by switching to electronic cigarettes.

Add in the fact that celebrities including Cheryl Cole, Twilight heart-throb Robert Pattinson and even Leonardo DiCaprio have all been pictured using them, and it's not surprising sales are booming.

Electronic cigarettes are hot items for smokers

Put simply, an "e-cig" is an alternative to conventional cigarette smoking, wherethe smoker, or "vaper," inhales from an electronic device that vaporizes a liquid solution into an aerosol mist. The mist is sweet-smelling and not harmful to those nearby. The electronic cigarette contains nicotine, just as smoking cessation patches and gum do.all been pictured using them, and it's not surprising sales are booming.

Attack of the vapers: why electronic cigarettes are on the rise

New research shows electronic cigarettes are one of the most effective ways to quit smoking — and in pubs across London everyone is lighting up. Richard Godwin on the cult of e-fags

It was on Sunday afternoon at my friend George's birthday party that I realised the vapers had taken over. Usually, when there's a large group of people in the pub, they sort themselves into the smokers and the non-smokers. This time, there was a new category, imbibing their nicotine-vapour inside and outside, their green tips glowing. Electronic cigarettes, released onto the market in 2007, have finally reached critical mass.

"I felt quite self-conscious whipping it out when I first started," said my friend Luella. "Gradually you notice how many people are using them. The beauty of them is you can smoke in places you can't smoke normal cigarettes — so in a weird way, it's better."

Kara agrees. "While before I'd have been popping out every 40 minutes for a smoke, now I could stay in the pub, while friends chatted away, and take a hit whenever a craving came up. It also made me realise that I was as addicted to the ritual of smoking."

In America, where Leonardo DiCaprio was an early adopter, usage has doubled in the last year. In Britain, more than 700,000 people used electronic cigarettes last year, and the figure is set to top one million this year. Prominent vapers include members of Girls Aloud, who were recently photographed enjoying an electronic shisha pipe, and Left-wing commentator Laurie Penny, who vaped away on a recent edition of This Week, possibly the first person to do so on live TV.

They have proved a hit largely because they look and feel like ordinary cigarettes. When you suck on it, two things happen. Firstly, the small electric light at the end glows like a real cigarette would (usually, it's coloured green or blue so no one will mistake it for the real thing if you use it in a club). Secondly, a small internal battery heats up a sponge saturated in nicotine solution. You inhale the heated nicotine vapour and exhale a thin plume of what looks like smoke. All you need to do is keep the battery charged (usually with a USB attachment) and replace the cartridge when it runs out, every week or so.

There are three main advantages over regular cigarettes. The first is social: it doesn't smell, so there is no reason not to vape away on the Tube. The second is cost: most of the leading brands start at £30, with subsequent vapour cartridges at £4.99, which generally works out as about 80 per cent cheaper than a 20-a-day habit.

And the third, and most controversial, is health. "It does affect your throat quite a lot — you will cough after your first e-cigarette in the morning, so it definitely does something," says Luella. But compared with smoking, it is far preferable. "Last time I tried to quit, the patches gave me chronic insomnia. It's been six weeks since I had a regular cigarette and it's been relatively easy."

Essentially, the electronic cigarette separates the addictive part of cigarettes (nicotine) from the corrosive parts (smoke, tar, carbon monoxide). "There's a common misconception that nicotine causes harm, but this isn't the case," says Alex Hearn of Kind Consumer, which is developing a cigarette replacement that delivers a nicotine hit using air pressure rather than electronics. With electronic cigarettes, he warns the repeated heating of the nicotine vapour can cause by-products which vary from

Fags without the drag

SMOKING kills nearly six million people a year worldwide. That's one person every six seconds, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), which is why it is calling the tobacco epidemic one of the biggest public health threats the world has faced.

We all know the dangers of lighting up. Those little white sticks contain more than just an addictive hit of nicotine; there's everything from tobacco and tar to carbon monoxide and even rat poison.

Dr Anuradha Arasu says there are 4,000 different chemicals in just one cigarette, 50 of which are known to be carcinogens capable of causing cancer.

'Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances because it is one of the most dependency-inducing,' she says. 'Over time, your body will require more and more to produce the same effect.'

Figures from the Office for National Statistics say two-thirds of smokers in Britain would like to quit. However, despite the numerous nicotine-replacement therapies on the market, including patches, gum and inhalers, it's not that easy.

Since the invention of the e-cigarette in 2003, many have been using it to quit. A study by doctors in South Africa in 2009 found that 45 per cent of smokers using the e-cigarette were able to quit tobacco cigarettes within two months.

E-cigarettes are free from most of the chemicals found in a normal cigarette. They are the same size and shape as a normal cigarette and a typical design will consist of three different components: a lithium battery, an atomiser and a cartridge containing nicotine. It works by turning the nicotine into a vapour and it is this that is inhaled by the user.